Sunday, August 9, 2015

One important goal of Hudson River Historic Boat’s mission, often overlooked when we are talking about ourselves during this period of intense focus on reconstruction of Eleanor, is to “serve as a resource for the general public who . . . desire to learn how to sail.

Member Pete Tenerowicz on a teaching sail with Hudson resident Kathy Hamm Parchuck

Before Conrad published his first novel in 1895, he spent 20 years working as a merchant sailor, mostly on sailing ships, and fully half his writing — including “Heart of Darkness,” “Lord Jim” and “The Secret Sharer” — deals with sailors, ships and the sea. These loom so large for him that as I have researched a book about Conrad’s life and times, I have felt it essential to travel by sea myself.

And she did. Maya “hitched” a ride on the 134 foot brigantine Corwith Cramer, a classroom on the sea for students at Sea Education Association, who for over 40 years has offered field-based environmental education through its accredited study abroad program with Boston University. As a bonus the students learn to sail.

She spent time with “a row of pallid sailors crouched at the leeward rail.” The 12 students who were on board with Maya were learning the

grueling schedule of round-the-clock watch duty, hauling and heaving lines, setting and striking sails, scrubbing dishes and floors. They were learning the ropes just as Conrad did, 140 years ago.

It’s hard to think of a less relevant skill in today’s job market than knowing your jib halyard from your main sheet.

But by the end of her sea journey and the end of her Opinion piece in the paper Maya knows her arduous journey from Cork to Brittany was well worth those uncomfortable, unpleasant moments, and was much more relevant to our present day life than she ever imagined.

I disembarked from the Corwith Cramer knowing things I had not appreciated otherwise. I learned that to stay on course at the helm you have to watch the horizon more than the compass. I learned that sails balance a ship, so much so that oceangoing steamships carried rigs for stability long after they used them for auxiliary power. I learned how to steady myself by swinging like the gimbaled tables in the saloon, which seesawed wildly with the ship’s roll while plates and glasses didn’t budge.

We at HRHB aren’t taking to the the oceans in tall ships with novice seamen and seawomen, but we do have our own education program. Volunteer craftsmen meet every Thursday night where they share skills on shipbuilding, restoration, woodworking and the physics of sail.

Hard at work/play at the reconstruction site last Thursday

We teach interested persons how to sail while developing a relationship with the Hudson River by gaining an appreciation for the river’s history, an awareness of nature’s forces and the river’s environment while instilling a love for sailing. Pete Tenerowicz, member of HRHB took Kathy Hamm Parchuck of Hudson for a lesson this July.

President Louise Bliss writes:

Parchuck, after returning to shore took time to reflect on her sailing lesson and experience. Just keeping your head, listening to and following directions are some of the pieces of wisdom that Parchuck took to heart. Terms such as apparent wind, tack, stays, jib, come about, hold your course, and main sheet are now part of Parchuck’s vocabulary. Tenerowicz has been sailing since he was a kid. His experience of over 30 years makes Tenerowicz a knowledgeable teacher. Tenerowicz says that anyone can learn to sail if you have time and like being on the water. Money and fame, Tenerowicz says are not part of the criteria for learning how to sail.

Our Education Tent is a familiar and popular stop at many Hudson outdoor fairs and gatherings. This year we demonstrated steaming and shaping white oak into new mast hoops in our home-made steamer at the Mohawk Hudson Council of Yacht Clubs Boating Festival at Henry Hudson Park. Acquiring the skills to make our own mast hoops and the tools we needed to do it took much experimentation and rethinking and we are still learning and honing our techniques.

The Education Tent also is a place where young are introduced to the possibility that they too can become sailors and hopefully some of them will walk away with the desire to learn how to sail.